Pain in patients with sickle cell disease is a well recognized health problem. However, little progress has been made in understanding and treating sickle cell pain. A major barrier is limited opportunities for the interaction and collaboration among researchers from sickle cell disease and pain fields. The purpose of the Symposium, Pain in Sickle Cell Disease: Basic and Clinical Science Advances and Future Directions, is to bring the awareness of the disease and sickle cell pain to pain researchers and physicians, and to illuminate the state-of-science in pain research. The Symposium is planned as a satellite meeting of the 2011 American Pain Society Annual Meeting, so it will bring together sickle cell and pain experts who may otherwise not have an opportunity to have face-to-face dialogue. The symposium will highlight new scientific approaches and new technologies in the scientific community's quest for a better understanding of neurobiological mechanisms and proper treatment of pain in sickle cell disease. The symposium aims to achieve the following specific objective: 1) present the state-of-the-science related to pain in people with sickle cell anemia;2) recognize the advantages and disadvantages of the different animal models of sickle cell pain;3) discuss the relevance of advances in pain mechanisms to research in sickle cell pain;4) recognize potential for sickle cell pain to serve as a translational model of nociceptive and neuropathic pain across the life-span;5) foster collaborations among sickle cell and pain researchers;and 6) identify potential collaborations for conducting multi-site translational studies. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Limited progress has been made in characterizing and treating chronic pain in sickle cell disease. A major barrier is limited opportunities for the interaction and collaboration among researchers from sickle cell disease and pain fields. The Purpose of the Symposium, Pain in Sickle Cell Disease: Basic and Clinical Science Advances and Future Directions, is to bring the awareness of the disease and sickle cell pain to pain researchers and physicians, and to illuminate the state-of-science in pain research. A major goal of the symposium is to foster potential collaborations among researchers from various disciplines and research centers.